Reconciliation and rebuilding: UWindsor hockey team travels to B.C.

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

The University of Windsor Lancers men's hockey team is on a trip to B.C.with a goal of making a difference off the ice.

The players and staffare visitingFirst Nations communities in theNicola Valley, along with members of Unifor Local 444,to help out with restoration of homesfollowing flooding and fires last year.

As part of thetrip,they are also learning about thosecommunitiesandabout reconciliation.

They heard from a residential school survivor and had a chance to walk throughthe grounds of the former residential school in Kamloops, where about 200 potential unmarked graveswere detected by ground-penetratingradar last year.

Mason Kohn, the captain of the team, acknowledged it was a difficult day but an opportunity the team was grateful for.

"We all heard about everything that had happened, but just being there and seeing first hand,and seeing how adversely, it affected the Indigenous communities across Canada and around the world too, it was really powerful and we learned a lot there," he said.

Now, the team can use that experience to educate others in their lives, he said.

"We will do things differently as a team and we'll try and do our best to everyday impact society and Canada to the best we can to help the Indigenous cultures andrebuild the community and rebuild the relationship of trust," he said.

LISTEN: Bev Jacobs joins Afternoon Drive

Bev Jacobs, the senior advisor to the president on Indigenous relations and outreach at the University of Windsor, is with the team.

She said the students'experience and knowledge will have ripple effects in their communities.

They were welcomed by the Kamloops First Nation, Tk'emlps te Secwpemc, and a ceremony was held, she said.

"It was a really powerful healing experience for all of us," she said.

The students were working with Unifor torebuild an elder's horse corral andrenovatingbasements so families can move back in,she said.

The trip, she said, sets an example of what reconciliation is.

"People always ask me, what can I do, what can I do to help with reconciliation and to me this is just aprime example of action," Jacobssaid.

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.